breakthrough_advertising

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION 137

No claim. No promise—except that of disclosure. But here
is an implication of foul plav, which echoed the existing suspi-
cion in the TV owner himself. Here is a crystallization and out-
right expression that the average owner felt toward being taken.
Facts have been withheld. This is something he can agree with!

Thus, having achieved its first acceptance by its suspicion-
headline, the ad reinforces that effect by an inclusion-question.
It asks a questions which, in form, seems to limit the market; but
which, in content, actually assures the correct answer by the over-
whelming majority of it:

"Was i/our set purchased after the spring of 1947?"

95% of television owners would answer Yes. Thus the ad has
built two acceptances in its first two sentences. It has started a
Habit of Agreement in its reader. It now exploits that agreement
by making its first definite promise in the third sentence:

"Then here is the full, uncensored stonj of how yon
can avoid those $15-$20 repair bills—avoid those $30-$60
a year service fees—and still get the perfect, movie-clear
pictures you've dreamed about!"

How Belief Was Built Into the Opening

This is the ad's first claim. Its content alone is extremelv
powerful. But that powerful content—which otherwise might drive
many readers awav as being just too fantastic to be believed—
has been given extra belief—has been loaned, as it were, extra
belief—not only by the first two sentences that preceded it—but
by these deliberate constructions in the statement itself:

1. By the grammatical construction, "Was your. . ." in the
second sentence, and "Then . . ." in the third which by its very
form generates belief. It does this by implying exclusion. It says
that the promise will come true only in certain cases; that it will
only work for television sets purchased after 1947; that the ad
cannot make this promise for sets purchased earlier. Thus it adds

138 T H I R D T E C H N I Q U E OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION

credence to whatever statement follows it. Yon can feel this added
believability yourself by taking out the lead-word "Then" from
the sentence and reading it again. Immediately, it loses half its
force—force added to the content of the statement by the
grammatical-bridge tying it in to the first two acceptances.

2. The second attempt at adding believabilitv is bv the de-
scriptive nature of the promise. It is not onlv a promise of re-
ward (the money saved), but a catalog of almost-universal symp-
toms (repair bills and service fees). Since the overwhelming
majority of set owners are suffering from these problems, their
descriptions evoke two more "Yes—I have them" reactions from
the reader, and carry these reactions over to the save-monev
claims that immediately follow them. If these descriptions were
eliminated, the money-saving claims would be much weaker:
"Then here is the full, uncensored story of liow you can save
$15-$20—save $30-$60—save $90-$ 100 on your' TY set—and
still get the perfect, movie-clear pictures you've dreamed about!"

3. And finally, even though the causes of the set owner's
problems are specifically described, the cures for them are de-
liberately left ambiguous. The fact that thev will save otherwise
wasted money, that they will get improved reception, is included—
how they will do this is not. The mechanism bv which these goals
will be accomplished is left out. It is left out because the reader
has not yet been prepared for it. If he were to learn, at this mo-
ment in the ad, that he had to make repairs on his set to save
this money, the average reader would turn the page. So he is
given specific symptoms, that he will agree he has, and specific
savings by eliminating them, that are certainly logical to expect.
He may or may not accept all these three claims in the sentence
completely; but the strength of their promise, the two or three
or four acceptances that he has already given, and the implied
disclosures still remaining in the body of the ad, should be enough
to carry him on, to this next paragraph:

"How many times this week have you had to get up to fix

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION 139

a jumpy TV picture? . . . How many times have you had to put
up with ghosts? . . . How many times. . . ."

Here again is reinforcement of belief—the description of
universal symptoms—the coaxing out of a stream of agreements.
"Yes . . . Yes . . . Yes"—he must answer if he has had trouble with
his set. A habit of acceptance is being built inside him. Trust is
being formed, layer by laver—as each question poses a test, and
each ves answer proves to the reader that the ad is talking about
him.

Already the ad is beginning to weave its pattern of promise
and belief and then promise again. Now, with as many as seven
or eight agreements behind it to establish a firm foundation of
belief, the ad moves on to its next great promise:

"90% Of These Breakdowns Are Unnecessary!"
"All of these breakdowns may have seemed tragic to
you at the moment they happened—but here is the real
tragedy! Do you know that the same exact set that you now
have in your front room . . . has been playing in manu-
facturer's test rooms for months—and playing perfectly!"

Goal Conclusions

The ad is now laving the1 basis for the first of its two goal
conclusions—that TV sets are not fragile—that they have amaz-
ing endurance if they are properlv cared for. Only when the
reader accepts this fact, can the ad go on to its second conclu-
sion—that whatever minor breakdowns do occur can be easily
handled bv the owner himself.

But the ad is still five paragraphs awav from any mention of
the owner touching his set. First it must establish the depend-
ability of the set; and it does this bv two methods. At the start,
in the following two paragraphs, it gives graphic descriptions of
the manufacturer's own tests used to establish this dependability:

"These sets have been subjected to 'Breakdown Tests'
that would seem incredible to the average owner. They have

140 THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION

been tamed on for 24 hours a day—7 days a week 4
iceeks a month. Some of these sets have been naming with-
out a moment's pause for as much as 17 months.

"These sets have been tested against almost every con-
ceivable type of viewing hazard. . . up to 120 miles away
from the station . . . against the interference of an entire
warehouse of electrical appliances . . . in special, steel-ribbed
buildings, which ordinarily would produce several distinct
ghosts.

"And in almost every one of these cases, these sets
have produced perfect, movie-clear pictures—without major
breakdowns—for as much as one full year! Here are some
of the reasons why:"

Then, when the reader has fully visualized the impact of
these test reports, the ad now turns to expert authority and log-
ical construction to reinforce this belief. Notice in the next few-
paragraphs how the ad picks up the already-accepted condition.
"If your set were properly cared for, as these sets were . . .", and
uses that now-established condition to prove the series of state-
ments that follow it:

"What TV Experts Have Learned About Your Set!"
"If your set were properly cared for—as these sets
were cared for in these tests—it need break down only once
during the entire year! In other words, you may actually
have to call in a repairman only once during the entire
year You can save the $30-$60 'service fees you are now-
paying—and you can save most of the SI OS 15 repair bills."
"If your set was properly cared for. if can actually give
you perfect, movie-clear reception the other 364 days a year.
It can give you this perfect reception without special 'elec-
tronic equipment—without the help of a repairman—up to
100 miles away from your station."

Notice that in these two paragraphs, the ad returns to the
claims made in the third sentence—repeats them almost word for
word—and then gives logical proof, in logical form, for each of
them. As we have pointed out before, these claims—"you can avoid
those $15-420 repair bills—avoid those $30-$60 a year service

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION 141

fees—and still get the perfect, movie-clear picture ijou've dreamed
about!"—were stated in the third sentence without supporting proof
at that time; but with strong implication—"Here is the full, un-
censored. story . . ."—that such proof would follow.

That proof is now submitted, in an extremely formal and log-
ical structure. Thus the ad again weaves proof into promise—re-
peating previous claims in a new context of full documentation,
where it could only suggest that they would be proven before.

Notice also that this logical proof—"If your set were cared
for. . . it need break down only once a year. . . you need call a
repairman only once a year. . . you save the service fees and most
repair bills."—is, in itself, solidly grounded in the test-proof pre-
sented in the paragraphs before it—"being subjected to Break-
down tests . . . against almost every type of viewing hazard . . .
and produced perfect pictures, without breakdowns, for as much
as one full year" Thus a chain of proof upon proof is constructed—
each new statement repeating the heart of the proof before it.

Thus the ad has now proved—bv using the Mechanism of In-
tensification—by repeating the same theme-content seven differ-
ent times in seven different wavs—that vour TV set is dependable.

The Ultimate Objective

This was the first goal-conclusion. At this point the reader
is convinced that it is true. The ad is now ready to go on to prove
the second goal conclusion: that the owner can correct minor
breakdowns himself.

It begins this proof in the verv next paragraph, in this way:

"And, most important, these experts have discovered
that you do not have to he a handyman or a mechanic in
order to coax this performance out of your set! Here's why"

Notice that it is in this paragraph that the entirely-new (to
the reader) assumption—that vou can fix your own minor break-
downs—is first introduced. Yet its novelty is deliberately con-

142 THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION

cealed; it is presented as though it were simply another rephrasing
of the bv-now already accepted dependability conclusion. There
is therefore no break in the logical flow of proof. Acceptance is
built into this entirely new statement in these four different ways:

1. By paragraph parallelism. By framing the statement as the
last of a series of similar paragraphs—all the others of which have
already been accepted—instead of physically setting it off as a
new point with its own sub head and a different construction, as
the reader would ordinarily expect.

2. By the lead word, "And," a tie-in phrase, which indicates
that the sentence accompanying it is the same as those that have
gone before.

3. By immediately following "And" by a second tie-in phrase,
"most important," which again implies that the remainder of the
statement is part of the series that has gone before.

4. And finally, by repeating the phrase, "these experts have
discovered," which echoes the identifying subhead at the begin-
ning of the series, and carries on the acceptance-momentum of
the series as a whole.

All these deliberate constructions combine to give this short,
but vital, transitional paragraph the acceptance, and therefore the
believability, of all the careful planning that has gone before it.
They allow the reader to make what otherwise might be a jar-
ring transition from already-established proof to an entirely new
promise with a minimum of effort.

Now the ad builds its final step—showing that the only re-
pairs that the average owner will have to make are actually minor
external adjustments on his set. Notice how it integrates this new-
extension of its previous thought into what has gone before bv
starting with the phrase, once again, "These experts have dis-
covered . . . "

Here are the next three paragraphs:

"Five Minutes a Week for Perfect Reception."
"These T\r experts have discovered that ipur 7T set
is a great deal like your body in this respect—that it gives

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CRADLALIZATION 143

you learning signals before it has a major breakdown. For
instance, after your set was installed, it probably played per-
fectly for the first week. But then it began to suffer from the
vibration, the jarring, the interference of other electrical ap-
pliances in your home. The picture might suddenly begin to
flop over or flicker—lines may appear on your screen.

"Now—and this is important—if you had the knowledge
to quickly make a few minor adjustments, on the outside
controls of your set, then you could correct those symp-
toms, you could keep that set playing peifectly, and you
could prevent major breakdowns in exactly the same way
they were prevented in these manufacturers' tests.

"If you do not have this knowledge . . . if you do not
make these adjustments, then your set trill weaken, you will
get a consistently bad picture, and you will have to call a
repairman."

The second goal-conclusion of the ad has now been reached.
At this stage of the copy, the reader now knows:

f. That his set is dependable enough to ayoid major break-
downs during by far the greatest majority of the time he will play-
it; and

2. That if he obtains the proper knowledge, he can correct
minor breakdowns himself, and help prevent the gradual forma-
tion of major breakdowns, by making a few simple adjustments
to the outside controls of his set.

Therefore, the stage has now- been set for the final conclu-
sion—the pay-off conclusion—a conclusion with all the inevitable
logical force of a syllogism—that:

3. The owner should obtain this knowledge—make these
minor adjustments himself—and therefore save the money he is
paying today for sen-ice contracts, and save by far the greatest
majority of the money he is paying for repair bills.

Here is how this final conclusion is phrased by the copy:

"It's as simple as that. You pay a repairman—not for
his work—but for his knowledge. If you had that knowl-
edge yourself—then you would not have to pay him at all."

144 T E C H N I Q U E OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CRADLE

A Restatement of Our Basic Theory

We have taken a great deal of space to analyze, in exact de-
tail, one ad, and the structure of believabilitv that underlies the
effectiveness of its claims.

We have done this for two reasons:

1. To show how the goal-conclusion—the introduction of the
product claim itself—may be made far more effective if it is de-
layed till the prospect has been prepared to accept it. And

2. To show how this full acceptance—this willingness to be-
lieve without question-can gradually be built up, layer by laver
agreement by agreement, by use of the proper structure.' '

Let us now state formally some of the rules we have dis
covered in this analysis, and some of the devices vou can use
time after time, to create the maximum structural believabiliti,
tor each of your advertisements.

Here are the basic principles:

Gradualization is the art of stating a claim in such a wav
that it will receive the greatest possible acceptance and/or be-
lievabilitv from your prospect.

Belief ultimately depends upon structure. Just as desire de-
pends upon promise, so belief in that promise depends upon the
amount of preparation that promise has been given before vour
reader is asked to accept it.

One fully-believed promise has ten times the sales power of-
ten partially-believed promises. Most copy writers try to strengthen
ads by piling promise upon promise. What thev usually get for
their troubles is greater sales resistance from their prospects and
trouble from the E T C . They could far better invest the same
time in strengthening the believabilitu-structure of the original
justifiable promise.

Now, how do you strengthen this believability-structure*
What are the devices you can choose from to add believabilitv
to any promise, in any ad?

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION 145

Here are at least a few of them. Once vou get the feel of
using them, you'll probably develop a whole armorv of vour own.

1. The Inclusion Question

Designed to permit immediate identification with vour storv.
To show the prospect that you're talking about him—not about
someone else who would answer No to the question. Therefore,
once he's identified with the questions—once he's made his first
agreements with you and placed himself in the Yes-answer group—
then your recommendations will have special meaning for him.

This is perhaps the most direct wav of building agreement
at the beginning of the ad. It's used everv day. For example, in
this advertisement—highly successful—for a book called The Art
of Selfishness:

ASK YOURSELF THESE NINE QUESTIONS

1. Do you find it increasinglv difficult to cope with
the world around you. . . .

2. Is your business or career a source of annoyance
and frustration. . . .

3. Are you tormented by inadequacies, fear and em-
barrassments in your sex life. . . .

And so on.

2. Detailed Identification

Another device used at the beginning of the ad, to establish
immediate, and deep, agreement between the reader and the
copy. Here, instead of asking questions to set up your Yes-train,
you detail symptoms or problems that are your prospect's reasons
for desiring your product. Thus, again, your reader knows that
vou are talking about him—that vou "have been there vourself"—
and therefore that your recommendations will help answer these
problems, his problems, that you have catalogued so well.

146 THIRD TECHNIQUE OE BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CRADUALIZATIOX

For example, in this ad for a course to improve the prospect's
child's grades in school:

Let me explain. I don't care whether your child is six
years old or twenty—boy or girl—in grade school high
school or college. It makes no difference how badly that
child is doing in school today—how difficult it is for him
to concentrate . . . how poor his memory mav be . . . how-
much a prisoner he is of crippling mental habits . . . how
terrified he mav be of mathematics, or grammar, or social
studi es, or even the hardest science course.

Of course, here—as in the Inclusion-Question—vour copv
must be accurate. You must know enough about the reader's
problems to make every word you write ring true. If vou don't,
you'll shatter your believability-net, and he'll simply' turn the

page.

So—before you write—research. Learn to know vour cus-
tomer. This is alwavs the essential first step, in anv kind of copv

3. Contradiction of Present (False) Beliefs

Again, used at the beginning of the ad. And again used to
prepare a foundation for strong claim-statements that the reader
might never accept raw. Here, you come bluntly out and say, "I
know you think this is true; but I'm going to show YOU it's false."
Best used, of course, in conjunction with strong authority strong
enough to contradict present (unpleasant) beliefs, and get away
with it.

For example, in an ad for cosmetics invented by a famous
plastic surgeon:

From this moment on, forget everything you have ever
heard or read about what age "must do" to your appear-
ance. Forget anything you have ever believed about how
"old" you must look at thirty . . . forty . . . fifty . . . or even
sixty. . . .

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION 147

Here vou are not looking for agreement as much as you are
for a loosening of previous beliefs. You are saying that the old
limitations are passing, and your next paragraph should be your
first introduction of your positive claims, in somewhat the same
way that this ad goes on:

Because—starting with this moment—you are about
to enter into a new world of beautv! A world where ordi-
nary fruits are transformed into anti-wrinkle cosmetics.
Where a. . . .

And so on.

4. The Language of Logic

So far, the devices we have discussed have been used to
build belief at the beginning of vour ad—to serve in the crucial
transition from vour headline to the stream of intensified prom-
ises that vou are going to use to close the sale.

We have discussed the process of intensifying desire in
Chapter 7. We now turn to the simultaneous, and equally im-
portant, task of maintaining belief in each new statement as you
present it.

Here again, your objective is to build belief at the same exact
time that vou build desire. To do this, you interlace each new
promise tcith language-signals that show that it logically follows
from everything that has been proved before. And that it there-
fore can be believed without hesitation.

What are these language-signals? They are, of course, the
vocabulary of logic. They are the words we use when we reason:
when we argue; when we prove our point in anv discussion, and
force others to agree with us that we are right.

They are among the most powerful words in the English lan-
guage—for the verv simple reason that they give the flavor of
conviction to the promises into which we weave them.

These words have been used for centuries in court, in politics,

148 T H I R D T E C H N I Q U E OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION

in science—even in that most-loved form of American fiction,
detective stories—to show others that proof has been offered.
that reason has been used, that one statement logically and in-
evitably follows from another.

Therefore, after centuries of conditioning, the words them-
selves—regardless of the content of the statements to which thev
are attached—now carry conviction. Therefore, thev should be
woven throughout your ad, wherever thev logically apply.

For example, let's look at some individual lines, in a num-
ber of different ads. Let's see how each of these words (which
I'll italicize) gives a tone of reason and logic to those sentences
in which they're incorporated.

For example, in the famous Sherwin Codv ad:

Why do so many find themselves at a loss for words
to express their meaning adequately0 The reason for this
deficiency is clear. . . . Most persons do not write or speak
good English simply because thev have never formed the
habit of doing so. . . .

Or, in this ad for a book on how to manage difficult people:

Take, as an example, the man who hahitualhj refuses
to follow your instructions. There is a basic, underlying rea-
son for this. Mr. Given shows you how to find that reason
and then explains the means of correcting it. The whole
solution can be surprisingly easy once you hate realized the
underlying causes. . . .

Or, for a book on learning how to learn:

. . . but simply by putting your LOCKED-UP LEARN-

ING POWERS to work—today—as easily and logically as

this. . . . '" '

And so on. There are dozens of such phrases for vou to use.
Among them are:

"This has been proved In/ thousands. . . ."
"Sound impossible? Not at all. It's actually as
simple. . . ."

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATION 149

"Here's whtj. . . ."
"And, most important of all. is the fact that. . . ."
"Therefore . . ."
"This was, without a doubt, the most thorough. . . ."
"Thev discovered—in case after case—that. . . ."

This, again, is the language of logic. It is a language equally
as filled with emotion as the language of desire. Interwoven into
your promises, so subtly that the reader never even notices that
it is there, it gives vour claims the invaluable air of conviction.

5. Svllogistic Thinking

Now we go from the language of logic to the mechanisms
of logic. This is the role that reason plays in your ad. This is the
moment when you prove that your product works, through the
mechanism of logical reasoning.

For example, in one of the most successful automotive ac-
cessory ads of all time, the copywriter wanted to prove that his
spark plug was superior to the ordinary plug—even though it
costs twice as much. Since the point of difference was simply
that his plug delivered a larger spark, the copywriter built up his
case in this way:

Your car runs because gasoline is fed into the cylin-
ders where a spark causes it to fire. This action causes the
gas to explode . . . this explosion pushes down the piston.
Now here is the important thing to you. The larger the
spark is, the more powerful the explosion. The more pow-
erful the explosion, the more power you get from your
gasoline.

Poor explosion means wasted gas—loss of power, poor
getaway, bad starting, a sluggish car.

Good explosion means more miles per gallon—more
horsepower; a more exciting car to drive!

Notice the power of these three simple paragraphs. Power
derived as much from their underlying formal structure as from

1 5 0 THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CRADUALIZATION

their claims. One statement inevitably leads into another. Even-
word is logical. There is a constant process of equation: spark to
power, power to performance. Size equals power—and his plug
delivers the largest size.

Such structure—and the copv based on such a structure—
develops the feeling of inevitability. The reader feels that the
product must work. He has not onlv been told it works; he has
been shown proof that it works.

Such structure—though hidden behind the words it clothes
itself in—is actually a physical entity. You can seek it out of hun-
dreds of ads, if you look beneath the words themselves. You can
trace it, codify it, and then repeat it. Once learned, it becomes
a powerful tool in selling hundreds of products.

We will explore these structures in more depth in the next
two chapters—on Redefinition and Mechanization.

6. Other Belief Forms

Once you grasp the fundamental idea that form—structure—
determines believabilitv, then all sorts of opportunities open up
to you. You realize that simply by the arrangement of i/our claims,
you can add to their believabilitv.

For example:
Contingency Structures—such as "If. . . then . . .", or "Wis
your...then...."
Repetition of Proof: Echoing—such as "These experts
found. . . . These experts found. . . . These experts found. . . . "
Promise—Belief—Promise Variation. Where every sentence
of promise is followed (ideally) with another of proof, or verifi-
cation, or documentation. So that the reader never has the breath-
ing space to question.
Paragraph Parallelism. Where the same word structure used
in an accepted statement is then picked up exactly, and used to
borrow acceptance for a fresh claim.

THIRD TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: GRADUALIZATIOX 151

There are manv more, of course. Some are words, some are
chains of reasoning, some are merelv the physical arrangement
of the copy on the page.

All have the same objective. To gain continued acceptance.
To prevent rejection. To build conviction. Belief is the goal.

Now let us look at some other methods of reinforcing it.

10

THE FOURTH TECHNIQUE
OF BREAKTHROUGH
COPY: REDEFINITION

How to Remove Objections to Your Product
Time and time again, you are

going to have to sell a product that has built-in handicaps. That—
along with its promises and its functions—also has certain aspects
to it that actually repel the prospect.

No product, of course, is perfect. If only for the reason that
he must pav money for what you have to sell, your prospect starts
with a basic minimum of resistance against buying your product.

But this resistance is intensified by certain drawbacks in some
products, often to the point where—unless you take definite ac-
tion in your ad to redefine them—these drawbacks will actually
kill your sale.

Let us now look at the three general categories of drawback,
and then at the three types of redefinition that eliminates them.

First, of course, there is the product that is (or that sounds)
too complicated—too hard to use.

153

1 5 4 FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION

Second, there is the product that is not important enough—
whose basic appeal doesn't have a statistically broad enough
market.

And third, there is the product that just costs too much. Its
price is so much above the price of other products in its class
that people simply turn away when it's mentioned.

It's amazing how many products fall into one or all of these
categories. Fortunately, the same mechanism—redefinition—helps
you deal with all three.

Redefinition is the process of giving a new definition to your
product. It says that the product is this rather than that. Its ob-
jective is to remove a roadblock to your sale—if possible, before
the prospect even knows it exists.

Perhaps the classic case of redefinition is that of Lifebuov
soap in the Thirties. Lifebuoy was a good soap that did a good
cleaning job. But it had one overwhelming drawback—a horrible
medicinal odor.

Since the odor couldn't be removed without removing the
cletamng power, the problem became one of redefinition. Put sim-
ply: how do we change this odor from a liability into an asset?

The answer, of course, was the famous B.O. campaign. The
prospect's attention was focussed on the odor of his own bodv—
an odor which he was told would drive away people (and which
does).

He was then told this odor must be eradicated—not with an
ordinary soap, which was not powerful enough to do the job
but with a soap with the odor-destroying power to make a long-
shoreman acceptable at a society ball. Lifebuov was this super-
powerful soap. And the overwhelming proof—that von could smell
the moment you opened the wrapper—was the strong medicinal
odor built into every cake.

This is the simplest, and often the most effective kind of re-
definition. A simple concept-judo. A complete reversal. Turning
a liability into an asset, with a single idea.

Wherever you can use this flip-flop method, do so. But most

FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION lOO

problems of redefinition are more complicated, and demand more
complicated means of dealing with them—using many of the de-
vices we have just examined in the process of Gradualization.

Let us now turn to these devices, and see how they can pre-
sent an entirelv different image of the product to the prospect
than vou would have imaginetl, had you not thought them through
beforehand.

1. Simplification

Our first category is the overcomplicated product—the prod-
uct that sounds too hard. To see how to replace this image with
a more favorable one, let's look again at the Television Repair
Book ad that we discussed in the last chapter.

As vou remember, the original ad for this product failed be-
cause it promised "Do your own TV repairs" in its headline. This
was considered too difficult by the average set owner (even though
the ad said "It's easy, its simple, it's quick" in the next paragraph).
Therefore—since the ad confronted the prospect with the fact
that he would have to make repairs before it made those repairs
easy and simple and quick—he simply- turned the page and tuned
the ad out.

The second ad did not discuss repairs. It discussed break-
downs and expenses. And, as we have seen, it spent its first sev-
eral paragraphs showing that these breakdowns and expenses did
not have to occur at all, if the sets were given the proper care.

Up to this point, the ad has talked about the prospect's
world—and compared it with a far more promising world where
expert care produces trouble-free TV viewing. Now the two worlds
must be joined through the product.

This joining is called by the pitchman, "the turn." It is a
transition of great delicacy. It must be accomplished without a
jar. In this ad, it begins in this paragraph:

And most important, these experts have discovered
that vou do not have to be a handyman or a mechanic in

156 FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION

order to coax this performance out of vour set! Here's
why. . . .

We have already seen how the repetition ( . . . these experts
have discovered . . . ) and the paragraph parallelism tie this state-
ment into the stream of belief that has been built up before it.
Now, however, we are going to look at this same paragraph from
another point of view—to see how it provides the first step in
eliminating any fear of making your own repairs.

Notice, of course, that the very fear of the average owner.
that he is not a repairman, is here brought out in the o p e n -
specifically stated—but now framed as a promise.

Notice too that there is no mention of the word, "repair," at
this point. It is still too early at this point. Though the average own-
er might be willing to accept the idea that he could "coax" better
performance out of his set, it would still be too much to ask him
to believe that he could make repairs on that set at this point.

This leads to the final step. The ad must now redefine what
the reader thinks of when he hears the word "repairs." It must
now lay a new foundation of feet—showing that almost all the
repairs the owner will have to make are actually only minor ex-
ternal adjustments.

It now proceeds to do this, in the following three paragraphs
which we have already studied in the last chapter, and which we
will now look at again to see the second process of p e r s u a s i o n -
redefinition—which is also occurring in them.

Here are the paragraphs again:

Five Minutes a Week for Perfect Reception.
These TV experts have discovered that vour TV set is
a great deal like vour body in this respect—that it gives you
warning signals before it has a major breakdown.' For'in-
stance, after your set was installed, 'it probably plaved per-
fectly for the first week. But then it began to suffer from the
vibration, the jarring, the interference of other electrical ap-
pliances in your home. The picture might suddenly begin to
flop over or flicker—lines may appear on vour screen.

FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION 157

Now—and this is important—if you had the knowl-
edge to quickly make a few minor adjustments, on the out-
side controls of vour set. then vou could correct those symp-
toms. you could keep that set playing perfectly, and you
could prevent major breakdowns in exactly die same way
thev were prevented in these manufacturers' tests.

If you do not have this knowledge . . . if you do not
make these adjustments, then your set will weaken, you
will get a consistently bad picture, and you will have to call
a repairman.

Now, what occurs in these four paragraphs is actually a re-
definition of the term, "repairs" in the reader's mind. This is done
in three separate, but integrated, wax's:

1. By immediately comparing the television set to the human
body, and therefore minor maladjustments in the set to warning
signals given off bv the body before it becomes seriously ill.

By "making this comparison, the copy relates the intricate,
technical working of a television set to something as commonplace
and familiar as the running nose that warns you of an approach-
ing cold. Because of this comparison, some of the mystery of the
set is explained away; and the owner gains a new feeling of con-
fidence in dealing with it himself, as something he understands.

And, at the same time, this comparison distinguishes be-
tween the relatively rare major breakdowns, and the far more
frequent minor maladjustments, which he can now treat himself
as easily as he'd take a cold tablet to stop his running nose.

2. 'By continuously describing these minor maladjustments
as 'warning signals" and "symptoms" rather than "breakdowns"
or "repairs." This makes them sound easily corrected—-before real
trouble, which might require technical skill and complicated tools,
can develop out of them.

3. And finally, by stating outright that these minor adjust-
ments can be corrected by "making a few minor adjustments, on
the outside controls of your set."

Therefore, "repairs" are redefined as "adjustments." Troubles
on the TV screen are redefined as 'warning signals" or "symp-

1 5 8 FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION

toms." And "repair calls" or "breakdowns" are carefully segregated
into the least-likely-to-occur 5% of all possible TV troubles.

Therefore, with this redefinition in mind—with this reorgan-
ization of facts accomplished by the copy—there is no longer any
reason for the average set owner not to make his oivn minor ad-
justments, rather than pay a repairman to make them for him.

The objective has been accomplished. The ad can now go
on to specifically state how much monev the owner will save by
making these adjustments—and where he can buv the book that
tells him how.

In exactly the same way, whenever there is a process which
is difficult. . . whenever there is a product which is hard to use,
or difficult to apply—the copywriters first task is to simplify that
application in his prospect's mind.

This holds especially true for new inventions which actually
simplify processes which formerly were too difficult for the av-
erage prospect. A new breakthrough is not merely accepted be-
cause its manufacturer says so. Its claims for ease and simplicity
must be proved, in the ad, or the reader will simply shrug his
shoulders and say "it's just another copywriter gone wild."

Such a situation is one of the most frustrating experiences
you can have. Here is a product which vou know is far easier to
use than anything ever introduced in this field before—because
you've used it! But no matter how loud you scream EASY in your
ads, people just seem to ignore vou.

What do you do? The answer is twofold:
1. Redefine (as this chapter shows vou).
2. Mechanize the new simplicity (as you'll see in the next
chapter).

Remember, innovation without acceptance is valueless. The
more people know that something is difficult, and the more rev-
olutionary (and therefore different) your product is—the more
resistance you will meet from them in accepting it.

You must, therefore, lay a base for acceptance by redefining
the entire field for them, before vou bring in vour product.

FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION lb9

Let's look at one more example of such breakthrough ad-

vertising, and see the solutions the copy offered that made the

product a success.

One of the great ads of all times, of course, is the Sherwin
Codv ad. Though most advertising men are familiar with the ad,
they do not realize that the course itself was a tremendous de-
parture for the times—far easier and simpler than anything else
that had gone before.

But the prospects for such a course were absolutely con-
vinced that good English was too hard for them. They had tried
to learn it before, and had failed. Therefore, any new course that
could be successfully sold to them would have to redefine En-
glish for them . . . redefine mistakes in English for them . . . and
certainly redefine the process of turning; bad English into good
English for them.

The Codv ad is a masterpiece of Gradualization. It should
be memorized—not merely studied—by every copywriter. How-
ever, within it, in four paragraphs, is contained another master-
piece of breakthrough redefinition—from hard to easy with a few
simple ideas—that goes like this:

Onlv 15 Minutes a Day.
Nor is there verv much to learn. In Mr. Cody's years
of experimenting, he brought to light some highly aston-
ishing facts about English.
For instance, statistics show that a list of sixty-nine
words (with their repetitions) make up more than half of
all our speech and letter-icritin<i. Obviously, if we could
learn to spell, use and pronounce these words correctly,
we would go far toward eliminating incorrect spelling and
pronunciation.
Similarly, Mr. Cody proved that there were no more
than one dozen fundamental principles of punctuation. If
we mastered these principles, there would be no bugbear
of punctuation to hamper us in our writing.
Finally he discovered that twenty-five typical errors in
grammar constitute nine-tenths of our everyday mistakes.
When one has learned how to avoid these twenty-five

1 6 0 FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION

pitfalls, how readily one can obtain the facility of speech
which denotes the person of breeding and education!

When the study of English is made so simple, it be-
comes clear that progress can be made in a very short time.
No more than fifteen minutes a dav is required

Thus the complicated becomes simple—the hard becomes
easy. This is the first use of Redefinition. Now let's look at the
second:

2. Escalation

Here you are dealing with a product which works, and which
is acknowledged to be easy enough to use—but which simply
does not have an appeal broad enough to assure it of a mass
market.

Your job here is to escalate your product. To give it more
importance in your prospect's eves.

You do this again by Redefinition. You broaden the horizon
of benefits of the product. You redefine the role that the prod-
uct pla\ s in the prospect's life. You widen the area of reward that
your product yields to the prospect—showing him that it enters
into dozens of vital situations every day, paving off for him where-
he might least expect it.

For example, let's look at another ad for another English
course forty years later. By now people are not as sensitive to
their punctuation or grammar. Now the negative aspect has lost
its appeal; people want good English as a persuasion tool to win
over other people.

So good English must cease to be an end in itself. It must
be redefined, to become instead a means to a more important
end—one which is desired by far more people. And, since the
positive aspect must now be dominant, that part of good English
which lias the greatest value for persuading people—vocabulary—
must now be featured.

FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION 161

Here is the ad:

Revolutionary new Word Power Machine makes you
a master of English overnight.

Automatically gives vou a power-packed vocabulary—
to make your ideas crackle with excitement . . . to hold oth-
ers spellbound with the power of vour speech and your
written word.

Automatically spots embarrassing errors in grammar,
spelling, pronunciation vou didn't even know you were
making. Clears them up at once. Frees vour mind from
worrv . . . lets you feel at ease in am- company . . . gives
vou the blazing new self-confidence vou need to make any-
body like you—to win people over irresistiblv to your point
of view. . . .

This approach redefines the benefits of the product, shifting
them from a less desirable area to one that will generate more
sales appeal.

But this use of escalation—to increase benefit appeal—is only
one of the ways it can serve vou. Another is to increase the im-
portance of the product—showing that something the prospect
wants very much hinges directh upon the performance of your
product.

For example, in an ad for spark plugs, this fact was pointed
out to the reader:

Yes. You pay $2,000 . . . 83.000 . . . $4,000 for your car.
And a single 99c part robs i/ou of the real power and en-
joyment that car should give you.

Or here, in an advertisement for a speed math course:

If you want to get ahead f a s t . . . if vou want a posi-
tion of real importance and responsibility—then a knowl-
edge of this kind of super-fast, super-accurate mathematics
is 'AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY for your future!

Or escalation can be used to show the prospect that your
product is not something to be put to work just once or twice a

1 6 2 FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION

week—but that it will be needed, and used, by him almost even
waking minute. Here's how this was done, in a single sub head-
line, in an ad for a course on handling people:

Your Entire Life is Spent Trying to Get Others to Do
What You Want—Without Fricti Oil:

You must agree with this statement. And therefore you must
redefine the importance to yourself of a technique which allows
you to accomplish the all-pervading task more easily, more ef-
fectively and more rapidly

This is the second use of Redefinition—escalation. Now let's
look at the third.

3. Price Reduction

Here you have the product which, quite simply, costs too
much. Your job is to make that price seem less. You do it by a
very simple act of redefinition, like this:

Why does the product cost too much? Because it's being
compared icith other products in the same field. And how do you
whittle away, psychologically, at this price? Bij switching the com-
parison, and relating it to some other, more expensive standard.

For example, here is an enormously successful mail order ad
for spark plugs, which sold for $1.49 each, or one and a half
times the standard for the field, and twice as much as the dis-
count price. Did the copywriter therefore sav that "Thev mav
cost a little more, but they're worth every cent of it." Of course
not. He made them cheap, and he did it in these two paragraphs
of psychological redefinition:

Up to now these extraordinary SA FIRE INJECTORS
were practically made by hand and would have to sell for
as high as $5 each. But we knew that 30 or 40 dollars was
more than the average driver could afford—so we decided
to get the price down so low that these injectors would pav
for themselves 12 times in one year of driving. So here is

FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION lb.3

inv astonishing proposition. If you will check your cars per-
formance before and after you install your SA Fire Injec-
tor System and then tell your friends and neighbors about
them, here is what I am prepared to do for TOIL

You can have a set of SA FIRE INJECTORS for the
year and model of your ear for only a fraction of their
value. If you act now they are only SI.49 each. . . .

Do you see how he does it? Do you see how many times
he does it in these two short paragraphs? As a last review of re-
definition—because its techniques are so important to you—let's
just list the individual phrases that build up. again and again, the
feeling of value and bargain.

Here they are. Did vou catch them all?
"practically made by hand . .
"would have to sell for as hi^h as So each . . ."
"30 or 40 dollars . . ." (Notice that he repeats the hand-made
price twice. First he gives it to vou per plug; and then jor the
entire set. Thus the new comparative price is reinforced; you
practically wince at the $40 figure since vou want the plugs by
this time. And you're going to feel pretty good when he brings
in the now-lower figure in the next paragraph.)
"pet the price down so low . . ." (Here is the magic word,
"low"; now legitimatized in your exes by the description of the
hand-made set in the phrases that preceded it.)
"that these injectors would pay for themselves 12 times in
one year of driving. . ." (Not only value, but reward. Not only
low-priced, but gas-saving. And again, the comparison to a higher
figure—this time the money you'll save on gas.)
"astonishing proposition . . ." (Now the price becomes so low
that the mere statement of it may cause you surprise. It may
sound slightlv cornv as we dissect it here, but it is incredibly ef-
fective in the context of the ad. And most of it—perhaps all of
it—is never consciously noticed by the prospect. He simply re-
alizes that he feels that a bargain is being offered to him.)
"If you will check your car's performance. . . and tell your

1 6 4 FOURTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: REDEFINITION

friends and neighbors about them . . ." (The introduction of a con-
dition—an action you must perform—in order to get the now-
low price. Used before in the last chapter in a different context:
here we see how the same device works again to substantiate.
with equal power, the feeling of value.)

"prepared to do . . ." (Again the connotation of favor, of al-
lowance, of discount.)

"You can have . . ." (Not, "You can buy." He is letting vou
have the plugs at the low price. Again, he is doing vou a favor.
You are getting a bargain.)

"only $1.49 each . . ." (The classic modifier. The tenth bargain-
phrase in these two paragraphs.)

Notice how similar Gradualization and Redefinition are. No-
tice how each operates below the surface of the conscious mind.
Gradualization by its structure—by its arrangement of facts and
phrases. Redefinition by its rearrangement of perspective.

Each is an extremely subtle and powerful wav of building
belief. Each deserves much more study than we can give it in
this book.

Let us now turn to some equally powerful but more appar-
ent mechanisms that also build belief.

11

THE FIFTH TECHNIQUE
OF BREAKTHROUGH
COPY: MECHANIZATION

How to Verbally Prove That Your
Product Does What You Claim
As we have observed repeatedlv,

good advertising copy exists simultaneously in two different places.
Part of that copy is words on a page. Or sounds carried by

radio waves. Or pictures and sounds coming out of a television set.
But the other part of that copy—the crucial part—takes place

in your prospect's brain. It is the series of reactions—planned re-
actions and anticipated reactions—that your copy causes in his
mind and his emotions.

Actually, when your prospect reads your copy, he is engag-
ing in a silent dialogue with you. You are feeding him ideas and
images and emotions, in a planned pattern; and he is feeding
back to you reactions to these ideas and images and emotions.

You hope—you plan—that these reactions will be favorable.
165

I b b FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION

That they will be controlled reactions. That he will see the im-
ages you are projecting. That he will understand and agree with
the ideas that you are advocating. That he will share the emo-
tions you are suggesting he feel, and even embellish and inten-
sify them.

But also, at the same moment, vou must be aware of the
fact that—included among these reactions—are also a number of
inevitable anticipations, or demands, or questions on his part. And
you must answer these questions or vour copv will fail.

What are these demands he is going to make from time to
time on your copy? Basically they fall into three classes:

1. Demands for more information, more image, more de-
sire. You have whetted his appetite; now you've got to satisfy it.
He is saying to vou: "Tell me more."

2. Demands for proof. He knows he wants it; now he wants
to know that it's true. He is telling you: "Oh veah? Who savs so?"

3. Demands for a mechanism. He knows he wants the end
result; now he wants to know how you're going to give it to him.
He is saying: "How does it work?"

To write good copv, you have to play a dual role. At the
same time, you have to be copywriter and prospect. You have to
develop an almost foolproof sensitivity to these inevitable reac-
tions. You have to know the exact point that they are going to
come in. You have to anticipate them. You have to switch copv
direction, fill in the wanted material, at the precise point that
your prospect loses interest in one theme and demands the other.

This is one of the most difficult parts of writing copv, and
the exact spot where many good ads break down and lose their
prospect. And—since such anticipation points occur several times
in a single ad—you will find yourself working over the same para-
graph of "unimportant" copy hour after hour. All vou know is
that at this point something went wrong—at this point vour
prospect is dissatisfied.

We will discuss these problems of copy direction . . . antici-
pation points . . . etc. in Chapter 14, on Interweaving. At this

FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION 167

point, however, let's look more eloselv at the third demand: the
demand for Mechanism.

Verbal Proof

This is the vital question: "Hoiv does it work0" Your prospect
is asking you here to give him a mechanism. He likes what vou
promise—he wants what vou promise—but he has to be con-
vinced that your product can aetuallv give it to him.

You have to demonstrate vour product, in words, logically,
so that he can understand exactly HOW it gives him the end re-
sult you promise.

Since the beginning of advertising, of course, the eopv that
furnishes this information—that provides this mechanism—has
been called "Reason YVhv" copv. Claude Hopkins was its master.
But there have been few great selling ads of anv period that do
not use it to convince their prospect that their product actually
works.

In fact, the basic question vou must ask yourself, about this
device, when you sit down to write a piece of copy, is not, "Should
I use it?" Or "Should I build a mechanism into this copv?" But
simply: "How much?"

How much mechanism does this copv need? This, of course,
depends—as so many other things in vour cop}'—on the State of
Awareness of your prospect. Is he familiar with the mechanism
by which this product works? Does he accept it? If so, then this
part of your job is done for vou. Other advertisers have spent
their money to make this mechanism familiar to vour prospect.

Stage One: Name the Mechanism

You ma}' now take advantage of their investment bv simply
naming the mechanism, and going on to beat them with your
price or other features.

For instance, in the conventional camera ad, to back the

168 FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION

headline claim, all that you'd have to do is name your mecha-
nisms, like this:

TAKE FOOLPROOF PHOTOS
WITH THE XENOPHON 1750

With Electronic Light Setter. . . Push-Button Zomar
Lens . . . Magazine Load . . . Only $135.

Here, the three mechanisms which insure the perfect pic-
tures are simply named, and not described at all. The prospect
is already familiar with the way they work from the other ads he
has seen, and any further detailing of their nuts and bolts would
simply bore him. Therefore, you name them in as bold type as
possible, and go on to compete with your price.

Most catalog copy and retail copy needs to assume only this
abbreviated form. It deals with products which are already known,
and whose mechanisms are already understood and accepted.
Therefore, any further wordage on these points would only be
wasted.

But now we come to that vast array of products whose mech-
anism cannot simply be named. Why? For two basic reasons:

Stage Two: Describe the Mechanism

1. Because the prospect doesn't understand their mechanism
And

2. Because everybody else has the same mechanism, and the
same promise, and the same price. And the market is getting
tired, and you need a new way to compete.

Let's look at the simplest case—case #1—first:
Here your mechanism is not so well known, or not known
at all, and you can't simply name it. You have to go into more
detail; you have to describe it.
So you have the classic situation of Promise—Reason Whv.
You build a strong, quick promise—and then you follow up with
the reason why you can deliver that promise.

FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION 169

This one-two punch of promise and reason whv is as old as

advertising itself. Here, for instance, is how Rinso used it in 1926.
First thev give the promise, like1 this:

Who else wants a whiter wash—with no hard work?
How would vou like to see vour wash come out of
a simple soaking—whiter than hours of scrubbing could
make it!
Millions of women do it everv week. Thev've given
up washboards for good. ThevYe freed themselves forever
from the hard work and reddened hands of washdav.
Now thev just soak—rinse—and hang out to drv! In
half the time, without a hit ol hard rubbing, the wash is
on the line—whiter titan ever!

Notice how the original promise in the headline has been
taken and intensified in these first thi'ee paragraphs of copv. The
promise is repeated, in different words and from different per-
spectives, over and over again in those first three paragraphs.

But notice too that—as the copv builds desire—it also builds
a growing reaction on the part of the woman reading it. This re-
action can be expressed in one word: "Hoic?" This promise sounds
better and better . . . it begins to sound too good to be true . . .
now she needs reassurance fast.

So the whiteness claims stop. The copv shifts direction—and
now begins to sell the mechanism, like this:

Dirt floats off—stains <jo.
The secret is simplv Rinso—a mild, granulated soap
that gives rich, lasting suds even in the hardest water.
Just soak the clothes in the ereamv Rinso suds—
and the dirt and stains float off. Rinse—and the wash is
spotless.
Even the most soiled parts need onlv a gentle rub be-
tween the fingers to make them snowv. Thus clothes last
longer, for there's no hard rubbing against a board.

Notice, first of all, that this mechanism—the suds that float
off dirt—is sold just as hard as the whiteness storv it is brought
in to prove. The first rule of mechanism copv is that it is not

1 7 0 FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION

scientific discourse. You must never allow it to become dull, or
merelv factual. You must load it with promise, load it with emo-
tion. Every word in good copy—including mechanism copy—
sells. Only in these paragraphs, the copy is selling a secondary
claim (dirt floating off) that proves the primary claim (a whiter
wash). But still—it sells.

Secondly, of course, you'll immediately notice how simple
the mechanism is in this 1926 copy, as compared with the same
field today. In those days it was enough to mention the facts that
the suds floated off the dirt; the reader accepted, as an evident
truth, the fact that they would do so.

Today, of course, in our much more sophisticated and ex-
ploited market, she would no longer do so. Todav vou would need
far more mechanism. You would have to explain more, promise'
deeper, perhaps even invent a miracle ingredient to do the work
for vou.

Stage Three: Feature the Mechanism

Which brings us to case #2 and the difficult problem of what
to do when vour market is highly sophisticated . . . when prom-
ises sound alike . . . when price competition becomes suicidal?

This takes us back to Chapter 3, where we discussed market-
sophistication from another perspective. Here we discovered that
mechanism—strong mechanism—saleable mechanism—is not onlv
a way to build belief, but may actually become so important to the
success of your product that you must put it into the headline.

These headlines are all mechanism headlines:

"FLOATS FAT RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BODY."

"FIRST WONDER DRUG FOR REDUCING."

"RUN YOUR CAR WITHOUT SPARK PLUGS."

"SHRINKS HEMORRHOIDS WITHOUT SURGERY."

"TOMMY ARMOUR SAYS SMACK HELL OUT OF
THE BALL WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND."

FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION 171

And hundreds more. Even/ one of them offers i/oti a new
way to get what i/ou've been wanting. A NEW7 WAY: a new mech-
anism; a new chance to satisfy your desire—even if everything
else vou've tried has failed vou.

Mechanism, therefore, can he inside vour ad, to prove vour
main claim, or on top of the ad. elevated bv the state of your
market to becoming the main claim.

If people assume that thev know how vour product works.
or if vour claim is so new that thev don't care, then all the mech-
anism you need can be summed up in a word or a phrase.

If people are not quite sure how it works, describe the mech-
anism—in selling language—until thev have enough reason-whv
to believe vou.

If you have, however, an exceptionally strong or dramatic
mechanism, or if you want to establish definite superiorih" to
other competing products, then sell hell out of that mechanism.

We'll see some expert examples of how to do this in our next
chapter, on Concentration- when we're sliown how to compare
your product with the rest of vour field.

On the Importance of Mechanism When You Want
to Convince Your Reader That You're
Giving Him a Bargain

One of the sad truths of our time—and profession—is that
our readers do not always beliexe the truth when we tell it to
them. Everv copy writer has had. at one time or another, a per-
fectly marvelous product that just couldn't be sold—because people
wouldn't believe that it could do what he knew it could do.

In the same way manv manufacturers, and their agencies,
are startled when thev cut a price—advertise the reduction—and
see no increase in sales.

What happened? No one believed them. A price cut—like
a product advantage—is only as good as vour words, and vour
strategy, makes it.

1 7 2 FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION

Price cuts must be justified. There must be a reason for
them. A mechanism behind them. Without such a mechanism—
without such a reason-why you should give this bargain—you are
going to get only a fraction of its real sales power.

The great master of price-cut mechanization was Robert Col-
lier. His book—The Robert Collier Letter Book—is one of the
great classics of copvwriting know-how. Here is just one example
of how Collier made his price-cuts, not only believable, but
dramatic:

Before the Price Goes Up!
Dear Sir:
A short time ago one of the old, reliable mills that
makes the finer qualities of woven Madras for shirts began
sending out S.O.S. calls.
They had kept their plant going steadily for months,
thinking that the usual demand would easily take care of
their excess output.
But, with the weather so generally unseasonable, the
usual demand didn't materialize. And there thev were, heav-
ily overstocked—and needing money.
If we would take all their surplus stock of the finer
grades of woven Madras, amounting to a quarter of a mil-
lion yards, they offered to let us have them at wav below
any price we had ever paid for shirtings in all our years in
business—at far less than they could make the materials
and sell them for today.
We took them—the whole quarter-million yards—at a
tremendous savings in cost. . . .
A Bargain You May Never Get Again. . . .

Let me point out the difference between this logical.
carefully-prepared introduction to the price slash, and a simple.
bare announcement of that slash. Here, the copy writer not onlv
emphasizes bargain over and over again, but brings in qualiti/
as a counter-desire time after time. He thus uses a mechanism
within a mechanism: (1) the unseasonable weather causing (21
the factory to become overstocked resulting in the primary mark-
down—to build belief upon belief.

FIFTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: MECHANIZATION 173

Here the copv starts with the mechanism, and onlv goes into
the bargain claims six paragraphs later. Again, he has taken the
Creative Gamble: in this case, that he could hold the reader's in-
terest for those six paragraphs. And. because of this gamble, lie
reaps ten times the believabilitv for e v e n word he said about the
bargain-value of his offer from that point on.

12

THE SIXTH TECHNIQUE
OF BREAKTHROUGH
COPY: CONCENTRATION

How to Destroy Alternate Ways for
Your Prospect to Satisfy His Desire

As vou know, in the final analysis,
no successful copy ever sells a product. It sells a way of satisfy-
ing a particular desire. And its power to sell ultimately comes
from the intensity of that desire.

If the desire is commercial—that is, if it is shared by masses
of people, and if each of these people want that satisfaction enough
to pay the price required for a mechanism to satisfy it—then it
is highly probable that many firms will try to deliver that mech-
anism, or product, to them.

The almost universal condition of commercial life is compe-
tition. No one who sells am'thing, of course, can avoid it. As you
write, one eye is fixed on your market, and the other on your
competitors.

We have described in this book several different ways of

176 SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION

beating competition. Let's stop for a moment and review them:
First, of course, is superiority of product. This is the ulti-

mate weapon in the war for the consumers dollar. If you pro-
duce the best product, your advertising has a hundred times the
chance of success than if you produce only a fair product. Most
great ads have been associated with great products. Most great
copy claims come from the assembly line. If vours does not. if
your copy is better than your product, then send it to vour client
instead of your prospect, and tell him to make it a reality.

But even the best product needs equally as effective cop\
to induce people to try it. Otherwise, the excessive cost of get-
ting the first purchase may drive the product off the market, be-
fore the repeat sales can build up high enough to earn- it through.

So we come to our second weapon to beat competition—su-
periority of promise. A stronger promise, that evokes more de-
sire. A wider promise, that causes more people to buv. A more
believable promise, that brings in the skeptics as well as the sus-
ceptible. This entire book has been a blueprint for developing
such promises.

Third, we have the weapon of product-role. The role the
product allows its consumer to plav. The personality, the identi-
fication, the prestige, the status, the excitement vou can bring
out of your product, or graft onto it.

Fourth, we have response and reaction as a competitive
force—the ability to one-up the competition: to escalate claims
when necessary; to shift mechanisms; to invade new markets.

And fifth—the technique we will discuss in this chapter—is
direct attack.

Direct attack—the mechanism of Concentration— differs
completely from the other four methods we have discussed above.
All these techniques have the common element of ignoring the
competition. They concentrate on your storv, ,/our proniises^/o//;-
benefits, your product. They act as though'there is no other win-
possible of gaining the satisfaction your prospect desires.

Therefore, they are most effective when vou dominate a

SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION 177

field, when vour primary problem is to protect your customers'
lovalty against the claims of your competitor, or when your story
is so powerful, so different, or so fresh that the competition has
nothing to match it. In these cases, it's better not to give him
the prestige of attack, not to mention his claims or his product,
even invidiously, in the space which costs you such a dear dollar.

But in many other cases—especially where your advertising
budget is much less than his—especially where the bulk of your
prospects are already customers of his—your first problem may
be to crack his image, to shatter their loyalty, before you can
rechannel their desire around to vou.

What Concentration Is

But this process of Concentration—this careful, logical, doc-
umented process of proving ineffectual other ways of satisfying
vour prospect's desire—is much more than mere attack. If you
can only attack another product—without showing at the same
time, by comparison, how your product provides what the other
lacks—then say nothing at all! Never attack a weakness unless
you can provide the solution to that weakness at the same time!

The reason for this is simple. Your prospect knows that your
attack is biased. If, therefore, you are attacking another product
onlv for your own good—in other words, to win the sale by dis-
paraging your competitor—what you will probably evoke in his
mind is skepticism and dislike, and very little else.

But—and this is the critical point in this process—if you can
show your customer that this attack is for his own good, in his
sendee, because your product will eliminate this weakness, then
you have a sales story he will accept. Then you will make him
question even the most ingrained loyalty.

Concentration, therefore, is the process of pointing out weak-
nesses in the competition . . . emphasizing their disservice to your
prospect . . . and then proving to him that your product gives him
what he wants without them.

178 SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION

Notice that all the techniques that we have developed in the
last few chapters are used here. Intensification to show the penal-
ties of continuing with the old product. Gradualization to show
the logical cause of the weaknesses and how thev can now be
cured. Mechanization to prove that your product removes the
weakness. And so on.

Concentration is therefore a complicated process, taking up
sizable space to do its job properlv, and combining almost every
trick you have learned in this book. To see how incredibly ef-
fective it can be, however, let us look at two masterful examples.

The first is our spark plug ad again. As vou remember, in
the copy, the copy writer has told his prospect that he can run
his car without spark plugs, that he can get more gas mileage
and more power if he puts "fire injectors" into his car instead of
the old-fashioned plugs.

Now he goes on to:

1. Provide the mechanisms which prove his own claim; and
2. To destroy the prospect's confidence in plugs forever, in
this brilliant piece of interweaving copy:

MECHANICS AND ENGINEERS
READ THIS CAREFULLY

And for you mechanics and engineers let me tell vou
why fire injection must give vou these results.

A spark plug jumps a spark of electricity across an air
gap. This is the most wasteful and power consuming wav
to get electricity from one place to another and it limits
the size of the spark.

Afire injector fires on the surface of an electrical con-
ductor This is the most efficient wav to get a big power-
ful spark into your cylinder.

On ordinary spark plugs the air gap between the elec-
trode and the firing point is always getting bigger because
the electrode is always burning awav. This means vou have
misfiring which means loss of power plus wasted gas plus
raw gas to damage the cylinders and piston rings. On fire
injectors there is no air gap and no electrode to burn away.
That means maximum gas explosion which means full

SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION 179

power, full economy and no raw gas to wash away the oil
protection from cylinder walls and pistons.

A spark plug accumulates filth and carbon because oi
inefficient firing. This means vou need regular cleaning,
setting and expensive replacement!

A fire injector never needs cleaning or setting. It ac-
tually- "breaks in" and becomes more efficient with use. It
will actually outlast your car, delivering maximum efficiency
without servicing or replacement.

A spark plug gives you a thin skimpy spark that ac-
tually blows out under pressure of less than 120 pounds.

A fire injector gives you a heavy powerful flame that
will not blow out at pressures far heavier than those cre-
ated bv even the highest compression engine. . . .

With ordinary spark plugs you are using, or should
he using premium gas which costs from 4 to 8 cents more
than ordinary gas, and despite this you're getting ineffi-
cient, wasteful gas consumption.

With fire injectors regular gas will give you up to 8
more gas miles per gallon, up to 31 more horsepower, plus
easier starting in all weather. Add these savings together
and see for yourself whv I sav that fire injectors will pay
for themselves every single month that you drive your car.

Ordinary spark plugs have to he replaced regularly.
In some of the new high-compression cars, a set of plugs
will burn up in a couple of months.

Afire injector installation is guaranteed for the life of
your car without cleaning, servicing, or replacing.

These are some of the reasons that the U.S. Air Force
pays premium prices for surface supported injectors for
their aircraft and why vou will ultimately find fire injec-
tors in all automobiles. . . .

Let's See How He Does It

I hope that by now you have spotted many of the techniques
he uses to gain his effects . . . to build the overall power of this
sequence. Let's just check off a few of them right now:

First, of course, is the interweaving contrast. A weakness in
the operation of the spark plug is pointed out, and then immedi-

1 8 0 SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION

ately counteracted by the benefit the injector gives you. Bad—
good; bad—good; bad—good: this is the underlying structure of
this sequence.

But this is only one use he makes of parallelism. He repeats
words to contrast the inherent weakness of the plug with the in-
herent strength of the injector. "A spark plug jumps a spar*.
"Afire injector fires on. . . . " Spark is a weak word; fire is much
stronger visually And he later intensifies this contrast of image
by saying: "A spark plug gives you a thin skimpy spark.

against "A fire injector gives you a heavy, powerful flame "
You can picture the difference.

Throughout the copy, definition and re-definition take place.
Spark firing is the "most wasteful and power consuming way" as
opposed to "the most efficient way to get a big powerful spark."
Misfiring means "loss of power plus . . . ," while maximum gas ex-
plosion means full power, full economy. . . ." (Notice the parallel
sentence structure here sharpening the contrast.)

And, in a beautiful image, the fire injector actuallv "breaks
in"—a masterpiece of redefinition by analogy.

Of course, almost every benefit has its documentary- mech-
anism. The air gap in ordinary plugs gets bigger "because the
electrode is burning away." The spark plug gets dirtv "because of
inefficient firing." And so on.

Let me point out again the general structure of this sequence

It is: *

Bad.

Good.

Bad.

Good.

Bad.

Good.

And so on. It thus offers repeated, direct, one-for-one con-
trast. It explores a number of performance factors of vital inter-
est in the prospect—showing the bad and then the good side of
each of them.

SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION 181

A Second Strategy

This is one way of accomplishing your Concentration. But,

of course, it is not always feasible, because the points you wish

to contrast mav not be so easily and clearly broken down, one

bv one. You may be dealing, instead, with a time sequence—a

recurring, unpleasant experience with which the prospect is fa-

miliar, and which you wish to sharpen before you provide him

with the antidote.

In this case your Concentration copy would adopt a differ-

ent structure. Something that looks more like this:

What happens to you now. with the product or products you

are using presentlv.

What will happen when vou switch to the new product.

Here is such a structure, for an ad selling a reducing pill.

Let's look first at the negative copy:

For years doctors have known that ordinary reducing
plans—that vou pay S5, $10 and even 815 for in the stores—
are completely passive! That they depend strictly on your
own will power—on vour ability to starve that fat off your
bodv. All that these ordinary reducing plans are able to
give' vou . . . for vour $5 or 810 or S15—are HUNGER-
APPEASING PRODUCTS—pills, powders and liquids that
do nothing more than swell up in your stomach—that do
nothing more than "dull" your hunger a little.

But not one of these products could do anything to
ACTIVELY help you reduce your weight. To take the strain
off that starvation diet. To actually help vou BURN UP
that uglv fat. . . OXIDIZE that fat. . . MELT IT AWAY—
FOREVER!

So what happened? If you were overweight, you strug-
gled to do the job of reducing BY YOURSELF! You took
vour hunger-appeasing pills religiously. You pushed away
the foods vou love. You spent week after week of torture.
And finally, if vou were lucky; you carved off 5, 10, or even
12 precious pounds.

And then your will power snapped! You broke your
terrible diet. You discovered that your little pills were use-

182 SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION

less to keep you away from the foods vou loved. And the
fat flowed back—heavier and uglier and more deadhj than
ever before!

Again, let's glance at the means the writer used to get his

total effect. b

In the first and second paragraphs—Definitions and Redef-
inition. Ordinary reducing plans are passive. They depend on vour
own will power. They can do nothing to actively bum up fat.

And in the third paragraph, the equating of taking ordinarv
reducing pills with "doing the job of reducing yourself."

^ Next, logic—cause and effect. Given the acceptance of these
definitions by the reader, the third and fourth paragraphs become
a logical necessity. This tone of cause and effect is conveved in
the phrase: "So what happened?"

Now, of course, the third and fourth paragraphs condense
an experience which is all too common to everv woman who has
ever tried to reduce. She has lived through this herself, time after
time. She recognizes each of the symptoms. And so she finds her-
self nodding her head, agreeing with each in its turn, building
up a stream of acceptances which carries more and more con-
viction as she finds her own experiences more and more thor-
oughly described.

And then, at the climax, in the last line of the fourth para-
graph, the destniction of the old methods of reducing is complete.
Notice the use of the word "And" to tie this final indictment in
structurally with the stream of sensory experiences that have gone
before it. There is no doubt that the fat has come back again in
this woman's life—if it hadn't, she wouldn't have read this much
of the ad. But here the inevitable implication buried in a sentence
with which no woman could disagree—is that it icas the failure
of the pills that caused the failure of the diet.

Thus the stage is set for the hero-product to emerge. It has
already been foreshadowed in the second paragraph—in the neg-
ative accusations that these ordinary methods can do nothing
"actively" to "burn awav" fat.

SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION 183

Now the copv goes on, from failure to promise, like this:

And so vou tried another passive plan. And another.
And another. And then if vou were like the men and women
whose fantastic case histories w ere reported by leading med-
ical journals—perhaps vou went to vour doctor and asked
him for an easy way out—without torture—and without
sliding hack!

These doctors had the answer in a tiny grey pill—and
a common-sense plan.

In their hands—so tinv that thev could balance it on
the tip of their little finger—was perhaps the greatest
weapon ever discovered against deadlv, excess fat. It was
a miraculous compound called LECITHIN—brand-
new—whose amazing fat-dissolving properties had been
discovered bv a Nobel prize winner—the co-discoverer
of insulin. . . .

Because this product was perfectly safe—and as easy
to take as an aspirin—main had used it themselves when
they wanted to lose weight. . . .

Thev were not given am starvation diets . . . thev never
experienced a single hungry moment . . . they reported, in
case after case, that thev felt more pep. more energy, more
youth and vitality than thev had known in years!

And then, dav after dav faster and easier and safer
than thev had ever known before, the ugly excess fat around
their bodies melted awav! While thev were eating three de-
licious meals a dav, thev were shedding as much as 5 pounds
a week. While thev were feasting on mouth-watering
steaks. . . .

And so on. Right back into Intensification copy, with its strong
picture-image sell.

Here are vour contrast—vour mechanization—your docu-
mentation—your reference to authority—and then your return to
promise, in the form of case history, which now has many times
its original power, based on both the elimination of alternate chan-
nels of fulfillment, and the strong supporting mechanism which
documents its claims.

184 SIXTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CONCENTRATION

One Final Word on Concentration

I have purposely chosen extreme examples to illustrate each
mechanism. These copy blocks are longer than Concentration
need logically be. The same effect may be boiled down into two
or three sentences, or even a single phrase, as in this classic
headline:

"SHRINKS HEMORRHOIDS WITHOUT SURGERY."

Here is contrast—implied weakness in other products—com-
pensating promise in vour own.

Again, it is not the content, nor is it the length of copy used
in a mechanism that makes it effective. It is simply and solelv
the problem it solves for you in the development of your copy—
by the emotional reaction it produces on your reader when he
encounters it.

If, in this case, vou have caused him to question a habit . . .
shift a lovalty . . . take a chance on your product—you have done
your job, no matter how few or how many words vou have used
to do it.

13

THE SEVENTH
TECHNIQUE OF
BREAKTHROUGH COPY:
CAMOUFLAGE

How to Borrow Conviction for Your Copy

We have now discussed five sep-
arate wavs to build believabilitv into vour copv. I do not think
we should leave this subject without at least mentioning one other,
entirely different, approach—that oi borrowing believabilitv from
all the places in our society where it is stored up.

The process bv which vou do this is quite simple. As vou
know, people do not bin' a newspaper, or a magazine, or anv
other medium of communication for its ads at all. They buv this
publication—or thev turn on their radio and television set—to
keep in touch icith the world around them; to learn what's hap-
pening, and whv it's happening. To be entertained, or enlight-
ened, or simplv kept up to date.

Now, when a person chooses one of the publications (and
for a moment we'll disregard radio and television), he does so
because he believes that that publication is telling him the truth.
He has faith in that publication. He believes in it.

185

1 8 6 SEVENTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CAMOUFLAGE

And, as long as he has faith in that publication (as any space
buyer can tell you) it remains an excellent medium for advertis-
ing—because some of his trust carries over from the editorial
pages to the advertising pages. He simply assumes that his pub-
lication wouldn't carry the ad if it weren't true.

And, on the other hand, when he loses faith in that publi-
cation, the effectiveness of its advertising just goes to pieces. If
he no longer believes in the publication, he won't believe in the
advertising it carries. This factor—the believability in the medium
itself—I think is a far more important consideration in buying
space than mere circulation.

All this is of vital interest to the space buyer, of course, but
we have to go a step further. You see, not only does this reader
come to believe in the publication which he buys repeatedly, but
after a while he becomes used to receiving his tmth couched in
the style and format and phraseology of that particular publication.

In other words, a conditioned reflex has been formed here.
The man believes in the publication. The publication phrases its
material in a certain way. After a while, that phraseology begins
to carry an aura of truth all by itself no matter what material
it embraces.

Thus, you have waiting for your ad—if it is adapted the right
way—a stored believability. A believability reflex. Which you can
tap by adopting this particular publication's phraseology when you
address its audience.

Let's Look at a Few Examples

I'll try to show you the three different ways you can borrow
this built-up believability:

First, of course, and most obvious, is Format. Each publi-
cation has its own look. You have your copy. Your job is to merge
both of them into a combination that will:

1. Allow the reader to enter into your ad with the least
possible mental shifting of gears from "editorial" to "advertise-
ment."

SEVENTH TECHNIQUE OF BREAKTHROUGH COPY: CAMOUFLAGE Vr> I

2. Carrv along the greatest possible amount of believability

through every sentence of the ad.
I have not discussed layout in this book, because I do not be-

lieve layout is nearly as effective as copy in determining the re-
sults of your ad. Here, however, layout is important. A single change
in format can add 50% to your readership, and your results.

Your job here, once again, is to approximate as closely as
possible the format of the medium in which you are advertising.
This means, ideally, letting them set vour ad . . . using their kind
of headline-to-body-copy transition . . . using their illustrations,
their sub heads, their break-up of space.

On the following pages are two ads for the same book on
handling people. The first is an all-purpose, house-set magazine
ad that was shotgunned over twelve or fifteen media. It was mildly
successful.

The second is the same ad. adapted feature for feature for
the Wall Street Journal. It was enormously successful—so much
so that it has been repeated i at the time of this writing) nine-
teen times, once a month, with no drop-off in pull.

Let's look at the changes that give this adapted format such

continued believability:
1. The headline, set by the journal in journal type. There

is no difference between this old-fashioned, upper-and-lower-case
headline and any other headline in the editorial content of this
issue. Therefore, it does not immediately signal the reader: "This
is an ad: beware!" To have made it bolder, or more modern, or
in all caps, would simply diminish its effectiveness.

2. The sub headlines—two of them, one following directly
on the other. Verv Nineteenth Century, really. Abandoned years
ago by 99% of all American newspapers. But the Journal uses it,
and therefore the ad uses the same treatment. And the very fact
that it is so unusual, and so old-fashioned, makes its adaptation
that much more belief-carrying in this context.